The list of living entertainers as decorated and beloved as Elton John is a short one. Following his first-ever Emmy Award win at Monday night’s strike-shifted, 2023-turned-2024 ceremony in Los Angeles, Sir Elton has now joined yet another exclusive list: the EGOT club.
The acronym “EGOT”–which stands for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony–has long been used as a high-water mark for multi-faceted artists and performers who excel in a variety of media. Emmy Award-winners (the “E”) need to earn their statues with excellence on TV. Grammy Award-winners (the “G”) need to beat the pack in the realm of music. Academy Award recipients (that’s “O” for “Oscar”) need to prove their mettle in the film world. A Tony Award (the “T”) means you’ve prevailed over the cream of the crop on Broadway. EGOTs have to triumph on all four fronts.
To earn a nomination for any of these individual awards is a career-defining achievement for many artists and performers. To win just one is an unassailable honor. To win all four accolades—to best the rest on the small screen, the big screen, the stage, and the studio—puts you in rarified air. EGOT air.
The origins of the “EGOT” terminology are largely traced back to Miami Vice actor Philip Michael Thomas, who laid out the four-part awards sweep to reporters in the ’80s as the over-arching goal for his career. He was even known to wear a gold medallion emblazoned with the letters. In 2009, NBC sitcom 30 Rock re-popularized the concept when Tracy Jordan, the fictionalized version of Tracy Morgan played by Tracy Morgan, decides to make EGOT-ing his quest (and picks up a Thomas-inspired EGOT chain as a reminder of his goal). In the show, the character refers to the entertainment “grand slam” of sorts as “a good goal for a talented crazy person.” Neither the real Philip Michael Thomas nor the fictional Tracy Morgan attained EGOT status.
After Monday night, Elton John has now succeeded where they came up short. His Emmy recognition (Outstanding Variety Special for Farewell From Dodger Stadium) rounds out an EGOT campaign that began back in 1971 with his first batch of Grammy Award nominations, though he didn’t lock down his first Grammy win until 1987 (Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for his contribution to a Dionne Warwick & Friends cover of “That’s What Friends Are For” alongside Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder).
In addition to a 1992 Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition (“Basque”), a 1998 win for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance (“Candle in the Wind 1997”), and a Grammy Legend Award in 1999, Elton John earned a pair of Grammys for his musical work in other media. In 1995, he won Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for “Can You Feel The Love Tonight”, one of his songs from The Lion King). In 2001, he took home Best Musical Show Album for the Broadway cast recording of Elton John & Tim Rice’s Aida.
While they also bolstered the “G” section of his EGOT resume, The Lion King and Aida also helped Elton John check off his “O” and “T.” In 2000, John took home his first Oscar for “Best Original Song” for “Can You Feel The Love Tonight”, the enduring track from the 1994 animated Disney film. He later won a second Best Original Song Academy Award for “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again”, the original song he and Bernie Taupin wrote for the end credits of the 2019 scripted film about his life, Rocketman. In 2000, he earned his first Tony Award (Best Original Score) for his work alongside Tim Rice composing the music for Aida, which went on to run successfully on Broadway for more than four years in the early 2000s.
Elton John is the 19th person to achieve EGOT status, joining the likes of recent initiates like Viola Davis (as of 2023), Jennifer Hudson (as of 2022), Alan Mencken (as of 2020), Andrew Lloyd Webber (as of 2018), Tim Rice (as of 2018), and John Legend (as of 2018) and longer-tenured club members like Whoopi Goldberg (as of 2002), Mel Brooks (as of 2001), Audrey Hepburn (as of 1994, last award earned posthumously), Rita Morena (as of 1977), and Richard Rodgers (as of 1962). For a full list, head here.
Congratulations, Sir Elton, on your well-deserved EGOT status. Read his thank you statement for the Emmy win below.
View this post on Instagram